TERA Rising: Gunner Update Preview

Coming soon to the world of TERA: Rising is a brand new update that will excite new and old TERA players in more ways than one. En Masse and Bluehole Studios are introducing a new ranged class simply called “The Gunner,” a highly DPS-focused class that’s all about using brutal force to get the job done. The new Gunner class, along with many other new features will be coming to TERA: Rising this May 5th. I was invited to try out the new Gunner class recently and CM.Treeshark was there to give us a crash course in how to master the art of PEW PEW.

Since I was already familiar with TERA, having played multiple classes through quite a bit of the game, it didn’t take too long for me to get adjusted to a new class. But the Gunner immediately felt like a great departure from the usual class formulas featured prior. The feel of playing a Gunner in TERA is completely unlike the other ranged DPS classes in the game (Archer, Sorcerer) simply due to the fact that Gunners can move and shoot at the same time, resulting in more of a third-person shooter type of combat. They also have a new meter resource that players must build up and manage in order to deal powerful attacks, called “Willpower.” You build up willpower by either killing enemies, using skills with special willpower granting glyphs, or simply using the “Replenishment” skill to build up both MP and Willpower at the same time.

The passive trait of double jointed ankles is also a nice plus for pivoting in heels.

The different kinds of active skills for Gunners can range from fiery, to explosive, to just plain nuclear. Skills like scattershot and point blank will turn your heavy gun into a shotgun, firing shots in a small arc that damages every enemy inside of it, as well as knocking them back (respectively). Time Bomb and Arc Bomb can be used to liter the battlefield with traps that will either explode in a small AoE or stun them for a brief period of time, which leaves them wide open for the more powerful, willpower consuming attacks such as Burst Fire, which turns your heavy gun into a mini-gun, letting players spray bullets as much as possible.

That shotgun blast animation should scare a few people in PvP at first.

The two most powerful skills at a Gunner’s disposal, Bombardment and Balder’s Vengeance, are so strong that the game will queue players in on how awesome the skills are by creating two black bars on the top and bottom of your screen to give the attack a cinematic feel to it. Being able to perform a literal airstrike or a powerful laser blast that can only be described as a “Kamahama” is truly a sight to behold and even more fun to pull off before unsuspecting friends.

This isn’t even my final form!

When I first saw everything that the new Gunner class was capable of, I then thought to myself: “Won’t this put the other ranged classes (archer, sorcerer, etc.) out of a job?” After I played around with the Gunner a bit more, I came to the collusion that there is a few fatal flaws. For instance, while the Gunner can move and shoot at the same time, many of the attacks can only be performed in a fairly close range, compared to archers and sorcs that can attack from much longer distances.

Though their dodge skills are nothing to scoff at.

Most of the Gunner’s most damaging skills require willpower to be maxed out in order to use, and when these skills are performed, players will be stuck in a long animation phase, leaving them very vulnerable to a counterattack. Not to mention that they have a hefty cooldown time to go with them (Balder’s Vengeance, for instance, has a five minute cooldown after it gets performed.) They also have the least amount of skills and least amount of utility available compared to other ranged classes as well.

Though it’s not hard to argue the utility of a machine gun turret in a fantasy game.

Lastly, the Gunner class is also race/gender locked, and can only be used with either a female Castanic or a female High Elf. Of course, I’m sure most players won’t mind this limitation too much, because it’s only natural to stick the race with the biggest chest alongside the biggest guns around.

“Big guns and big boobs: Nature’s one-two combo.”

Overall, the new Gunner class is an excellent new addition to the world of TERA: Rising, but there is way more being included in this new update:

Along with the new class, May 5th also marks the official release of TERA: Rising on Steam, the world’s most popular PC gaming service, so many new players will be expected to join in on the fun. En Masse will also be giving out various welcome packages for anyone that tries out the new Gunner class, including the exclusive EX-TERM mount. Lastly, various balance changes and system updates including improvements to the Archer class and improvements to the game’s UI will also be included.